Friday, February 25, 2011

Is Madonna as horrible a person as you think she is? Listen to what Tim Ransom has to say about his onetime friend and "Desperately Seeking Susan" costar. Tim had a bit part in the film as the bellhop in Atlantic City who delivers Susan her breakfast -- including a newspaper and tequila -- which earns him a tip that was as big as her flirting. "Don't spend it all in one place," Susan cautions, as she slips the money in his coat pocket. (He won't.) It seems Tim and Madonna were buddy-buddy back in the day -- according to publicist Reid Rosefelt, Madonna "adored" Tim -- but after Reid blogged a heartwarming story about his work on the "Desperately Seeking Susan" movie poster with Herb Ritts, Tim posted the following in the comments section. I could almost feel my his heart break as I read it:

Ah yes indeed, this brings back the memories. I was cuh-razy for the girl when all this was happening. Followed her around like a puppy on set. Such a shame she turned in to such an awful person.

If it's any consolation Reid, you aren't alone in getting the diss from her. About 10+ years ago, I was invited to spend Christmas Eve at a small gathering at a mutual friends place and she was going to be there. I was truly looking forward to seeing her again as she was always playful on DSS and we had a fun relationship. Having done her first-ever screen test with her, etc. I never imagined she'd pull the 'I don't remember you' routine, but that is exactly what she did, sitting less than 3 feet from me. Completely flummoxed, I tried (pathetically) to remind her that we did her screen-test together, that we had a small scene in the movie, etc., at which point she looked me square in the eye and repeated, VERY pointedly, "I. Don't. Remember. You."

This was the woman who stuck her tongue at me from the stage at Madison Square Garden; the woman whose voice-mail to me I saved for YEARS cause it was so deliciously flirtatious; the woman whom I still have a photo of me giving her a foot-rub on set (which I was on every friggin' day of the shoot) that was now telling me I didn't exist in her memory. It was infuriating as she was so clearly making a conscious choice to not even engage in the conversation. Narcissism paired with a lack of grace running that deep is pretty mind-blowing to witness, especially when directed so personally at you.

It sucked to have fond memories of her and that time poisoned by that night, but what are you gonna do? Suffice it to say that a few years ago when I re-discovered in storage the signed 'Like A Virgin' poster she gave us all on that last day of shooting ("you can be my second husband after therapy" was one of the things she wrote), with great pleasure I listed it on eBay. The tidy sum I received for it went to underwrite a new flat-screen TV that I am enjoying to this very day. Perhaps a little short-sighted of me, but it felt very good to be rid of it and I will never, ever regret getting it out of my home.

That's low-rent behavior, regardless of whether she remembered him. But it also sounds like he was a little too invested in that "relationship." It seems fairly plausible to me that given all she's done since then, Madonna would not years later remember a minor actor that she did a screen test with or had one limited interaction with in her first movie. Tim, get over both yourself AND her.

He sounds like a jaded fan, and like everyone else, he wanted Madonna's approval. People can rip her to shreds all they want, but when she walks in the room, all eyes are on her, and if she acknowledges a person it is with instant validation.

Even my biggest Madonna-loving friend says: "It's clear she was deliberately not even trying to remember. But also, there's NO WAY she would not remember him. Not because of the screen test, but because they hung out, that was known. And if she didn't click immediately, she would have had he been allowed to say more. She probably just shuts people down because some are fake and anyone she really gives two shits about she remembers automatically, or THINKS she does."

I could totally understand her not allowing him to make his "case" if he'd come up to her on the street or even at an autograph-signing thing with a line. But they were both GUESTS at the same party(!), so that's when I think it becomes inexcusably horrible.

I am a huge Madonna fan and have been since 1983. I will admit I am obsessed. Although, as I've gotten older, I'm able to be a slightly more objective regarding the queen.

After reading Tim's story, I was disappointed but not surprised. Then I read the six comments posted and I partially agree with all of them, except for Steve's. But the one that seems to resonate with the most truth is yours, Ken.

That being said, I think this type of behavior is the result of a level of fame none of us can even fathom. It's grotesque. It's narcissism. It's detachment.

Tim does come off as a little too invested but I don't blame him. He was young when he worked with and spent time with Madonna. He clearly had some fond memories. Then all of that was wiped away with a few words and that catatonic stare Madonna gives those who do not meet her elitist stature (in her eyes).

I would forgive her if she were to ever read Tim's story and realize, in hindsight, that her response was impulsive, rude, and like you said, inexusably horrible. He deserves an apology. An apology he will never get. I'm glad Tim got his TV.

I am surprised anyone would defend her. The stories in this post are the latest in a long list of Madonna being inexcusably rude to people and endlessly narcissistic.

If I don't remember people, I let them speak and try to jog my memory...if I can't remember, I'm still polite to them and continue the conversation.

Being a celebrity is no excuse to stare coldly at someone and snarl I.Don't.Remember.You, which is typical diva behaviour.

There was a similar story in the press several years ago when a guy from In Living Color met Jennifer Lopez again and reminded her of their connection. She said she didn't remember anyone from In Living Color. He told her she should see a doctor and get that checked, because she isn't very old and program wasn't that many years earlier.

Too little space here but I've heard lots of good stories about "lowly paeons" giving a comeuppance to divas displaying similar arrogant behaviour.

Tim? He said he was "friends" with Madonna. That's one sided story. What does Madonna have to say about him? Nothing, she doesn't remember him.

Didn't they film Desperately Seeking Susan in like - a month?

Besides that, he says he did Madonna's first ever screen test with her. Which is not true: Madonna had been in "A Certain Sacrifice" and "In Artificial Light" (two sort-of-artsy films prior to Susan).

The EGO blowing here is Tim's. he is the one giving HIMself too much importance in Madonna's first "ever screen test" when it clearely was not her first.

The fact that they went to a few parties together doesn't mean they were friends either. True story: I recently had an encounter with someone who claimed they went to High School with me. She even mentioned things that were actually accurate but I couldn't remember her AT ALL. We exchanged e-mails and she sent me a group picture back from our High School years. Only then I remembered her and I was in High School ten years ago...

@Nancy: If you had read the thing, you would see the person describing Tim and Madonna as being such buddies is NOT Tim, but a mutual friend of theirs who was also dissed by M, but thought her dissing of Tim was far more hurtful considering how close they had been.

Also, I hardly think screen tests were involved in the making of a filmed STAGE PLAY or Super 8(!) "indie"!